Dhaka stocks fell on Thursday as investors booked profits after a five-session rally, pulling the benchmark index below the 5,900-point mark and sharply reducing trading activity.
The DSEX, the broad index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), fell 0.44 per cent to 5,900 from 5,926 in the previous session. The decline came after the index rose for five consecutive sessions, gaining nearly 90 points and reaching a 22-month high.
Selling pressure intensified during the session as investors offloaded recently appreciated stocks, outweighing early gains and pushing the market into negative territory. The blue-chip DS30 index fell 0.68 per cent to 2,227.62 from 2,242.90 in the previous session, while the DSE SME Index fell 0.72 per cent to 1,248 from 1,257.
Trading activity weakened alongside the market correction. Turnover fell 26.2 per cent to Tk1,118 crore from Tk1,516 crore in the previous session. Trading volume fell to 33.5 crore shares from 41.7 crore, while the number of trades fell to 2.71 lakh from 3.38 lakh.
Market capitalisation fell Tk1,400 crore to Tk7.11 lakh crore.
Market breadth remained negative, with 234 of the 396 traded securities falling, while 102 rose and 60 remained unchanged, indicating broad-based selling pressure.
Pharmaceuticals and chemicals accounted for the largest share of turnover at 17.4 per cent, followed by textiles at 13.2 per cent and general insurance at 10.6 per cent. Banks accounted for 8.7 per cent of turnover, while engineering contributed 7.8 per cent.
Most sectors ended lower. Life insurance fell 1.7 per cent, the highest decline among sectors, followed by general insurance, which fell 1.4 per cent, and cement, which fell 1.3 per cent. Miscellaneous, fuel and power, financial institutions, engineering, mutual funds, paper and printing, food, textiles and telecommunications sectors also ended lower.
Tannery rose 1.2 per cent, while travel and leisure rose 0.6 per cent and information technology rose 0.5 per cent.
Techno Drugs topped turnover with Tk47.7 crore worth of shares traded, followed by Summit Alliance Port at Tk35.1 crore, Malek Spinning at Tk24.7 crore, Fareast Knitting at Tk21 crore and Lovello Ice Cream at Tk20.2 crore.
Techno Drugs rose 9.84 per cent to become the day’s top gainer. Other major gainers included Global Heavy Chemical, International Leasing, Peoples Leasing and Al-Arafah Islami Bank.
Usmania Glass Sheet Factory fell 9.24 per cent, the steepest decline of the day, followed by BIFC, Zeal Bangla Sugar Mills and GQ Ball Pen Industries.
